Clever ants, creepy crocs and too much iced water

Gunlom was beautiful but the ants were tiny and very clever. They got into jars with screw-top lids, and snuck into supposedly sealed containers. We had to chuck out way too much food and it took ages to pick their little dead bodies out of the peanut butter. The extreme heat was running our batteries down and the fridges were in need of a power up so although we had planned more bush camping, we changed plans and camped at the Cooinda resort and caravan park for a couple of nights. It was actually a very nice place - lush and peaceful with sprinklers everywhere and the obligatory lovely pool.

Zara immediately made friends with a baby next door and spent many happy hours playing with 1yo Will and his patient parents. Although we were initially wary of a family flying the Aussie flag (never a positive sign as far as we are concerned) who were camped on the other side they turned out to be friendly and had good tips for Darwin where they have been living for a couple of years. He works for Defence which explains the flag I guess.

Next day, we jumped on our bikes for the first time in ages and rode a short way to the Warradjan Cultural Centre to learn a bit about the local peoples and their culture. It was a well presented place - very slick displays and stories told from the point of view of the local people, rather than just white historians as is often the case. The kids were particularly thrilled with a display on the spirit 'lightening man' which plays audio of lightening and thunder whenever a visitor walks past. Needless to say our entire visit was accompanied by the sounds of storms.

That evening we took a boat cruise up the spectacular Yellow River. Our guide was a young Aboriginal guy who told us a lot about the plants and birds and animals along the river. He certainly knew a lot but we had the feeling he had done the tour 1000 times before. But we saw heaps of crocs up close which was pretty amazing. Really we can't get enough of these incredible creatures and to be up close and personal with them on the river is a pretty thrilling experience. We also saw beautiful blue kingfishers, white bellied sea eagles and of course plenty Jabiru (or more precisely black-necked storks - although their necks are definitely dark green).  The lotus flowers were in full bloom and looked amazing stretching out over the billabong.

There is always iced water made available on these boat tours - a good idea in the heat except the kids are strangely fascinated by it and so spend way too much time pouring and drinking cups of water - and so need to use the on-board toilet at regular intervals. Particularly annoying on this trip as the toilet (for emergencies only...) was high enough that Sash actually had to be lifted onto it - which meant Bill and Kate were constantly being interrupted to accompany Sash to the toilet...

Next morning we took a quick dip in the luxury pool, said good bye to Hannah and Michael, Kate and Sam, and the baby next door, then headed to a nearby campsite, Mardagul, for one night. We were beginning to realise that the mozzies in Kakadu at this time of year are pretty full on. We decided to use the swag and dome tent but halfway through the night the mozzies were driving Bill bananas - buzzing around his head and biting his face so he squeezed into the dome tent with the kids and left Kate to be massacred on her own. Next morning we decided we wouldn't use the swag again until we are further south - away from the mozzies. We were all pretty covered in bites by this time,  but they were not as itchy as the sandflies so we were able to grin and bear them.